Northern Ireland Under 17s got their Euro 2026 qualifying campaign off to a winning start with an impressive 2-1 victory over Armenia in Cyprus.
Competition
U17 Euro 2026, Qualifying Round Group 11
Scoreline
Northern Ireland U17s 2-1 Armenia U17s
Scorers
Northern Ireland: Eamonn Tohill (21'), Joel Kerr (40')
Armenia: Armen Ghazaryan (45+2')
Venue
Sotira Municipal Stadium, Sotira
Date
28 October 2025
Team News
Northern Ireland’s Under-17s are in Cyprus competing in Qualifying Round Group 11 for U17 Euro 2026, facing Armenia (28 October), Cyprus (31 October) and Finland (3 November).
Andy Waterworth's side limbered up for the tournament with games against Portugal and USA in Spain last month.
The 20-strong squad is chiefly made up of players who are currently part of, or have been part of, the Irish FA JD Academy or have previously played for Northern Ireland at youth level.
Waterworth’s panel includes three players who were not included in the squad for the warm-up games, namely Aston Villa striker Jahmi Kellyman, Glenavon attacking midfielder Harry Gough and Cliftonville defender Sean Cassidy.
Southampton defender Calum Anderson was handed the captain's armband for the game.
How it happened
The opening exchanges were very much a case of cat and mouse, with the sides trading set pieces and periods of possession. Charlie Campbell tested the Armenian keeper with a direct free-kick while at the other end Mher Harutyunyan failed to find the target from a good position.
The deadlock was broken in Northern Ireland's favour midway through the first half after Cliftonville's Eamonn Tohill knocked the ball home following a spell of play that had started with a corner from West Ham United's Joel Kerr.
Kerr delivered another corner a few minutes later which Campbell tried to make count only to be denied by keeper Narek Nazaretyan, while Kerr saw an effort on goal blocked not long after that as Northern Ireland tried to extend their advantage.
However, that second goal did arrive on 40 minutes when Kerr got his just rewards for his earlier endeavours after receiving the ball from Hearts defender Alfie Wilson.
Armenia hit back, though, in first half stoppage time through midfielder Armen Ghazaryan, with the assist provided by Kirill Edigarian.
There was still time for Northern Ireland to almost restore their two-goal cushion only for Jahmi Kellyman to see his effort from another Kerr free-kick to be kept out by Nazaretyan.
Half-time: Northern Ireland U17s 2-1 Armenia U17s
Waterworth's side continued to push forward early in the second half, but Nazaretyan was on hand once more to deal with a further Kerr effort.
Indeed, Northern Ireland continued to be in the ascendancy as the game progressed, winning a succession of free-kicks and corners, before Tohill came close to doubling his tally either side of the hour with one effort blocked enroute to goal and another kept out by the busy Nazaretyan.
Substitute Jack May was the latest to be frustrated by a blocked attempt with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining.
As was perhaps to be expected Armenia stepped up a gear in the closing moments in pursuit of the equaliser, forcing a number of corners, with Northern Ireland keeper Phoenix Blayney called into action to deal with a Ghazaryan strike before the same player then missed the target as the game ticked over into stoppage time.
But a strong defence dealt with anything thrown at them as Waterworth's charges held out to record a positive and well deserved winning start to the campaign.
In the other game in the group hosts Cyprus edged out Finland by a solitary goal, a penalty, scored midway through the second half. The Cypriots provide the opposition for Northern Ireland in their next outing on Friday morning (9am GMT).
Speaking after the game, Waterworth said: "It was a game of two halves. The first half we were very much in control and we could have been four or five up but then I think we got a little bit complacent.
"They scored right on half time, which was a complete psychological change, but we are very happy as a squad that we came away with a win.
"It was a game that the players will have to really learn from because when we were good and we did the right things we had a lot of success, but then when we got scrappy, we lost concentration and we were lucky not to get punished in the end.
"It was a good learning opportunity for the young players, and it'll definitely stand them a good place moving forward."
Full-time: Northern Ireland U17s 2-1 Armenia U17s
Line-ups
Northern Ireland: Phoenix Blayney, Sean Cassidy, Calum Anderson (capt.), Charlie Campbell, Alfie Mulvenna, Alfie Wilson, Finlay Ross, Joel Kerr, Jahmi Kellyman, Coran Madden, Eamonn Tohill
Substitutes: (used) Luke Hawe, Jack May, Charlie McConnell; (unused) Matthew Belshaw, Daniel McCarron, Zak Magowan, Liam Kelly, Calum Woods, Harry Gough
Armenia: Narek Nazaretyan, Tigran Ohanyan, Vahan Aslanyan, Robert Hovakimyan, Colin Ajax Mullins, Suren Petrosyan, Sergey Arakelyan, Kirill Edigarian, Armen Ghazaryan, Suren Harutyunyan, Mher Harutyunyan
Substitutes: (used) Davit Hovhannisyan, Armen Asatryan, Samvel Beglaryan, Arsen Arakelyan; (unused) Samson Hakobyan, Seryozha Petrosyan, Aram Khachatryan, Narek Hovhannisyan, Artyom Hakobyan
